Saturday, 13 September 2014

Charter Schools for Australia?

Why do we want to copy a failed system?

If there is anything I've learnt from reading the Huffington Post Education section for the last 2 years it is that the Charter School experience in the US has been great for some schools but an unmitigated disaster for many others.....and guess which education system has learnt nothing from it and now wants to go down the same road? The Abbott government and it's fellow travellers in Victoria.

Charter schools have been wonderful for affluent, middle-upper class,predominantly WASP communities in the US but have been a disaster for everyone else ( poor white or minority communities in big cities or on the fringe of big cities) It has led to the degradation of already poor, under- resourced and poorly staffed schools - or their closure and it is helping to create a new system of segregation in schooling in the US not seen since the early 60s. Do we really want to go down that path?

The Sunday Age has the following story today:

Principals and teachers fear they are headed down a path of privatisation by stealth, after Victoria signed a contentious deal to enhance Tony Abbott's push to create 1500 "independent public schools" by 2017.

Schools will get access to extra funds if they become more autonomous; parent-based councils could get new powers to select principals and acquire property; and administrative work in small schools will be increasingly outsourced as part of the $16 million agreement.

The changes form part of the federal government's plan to entice at least one-quarter of Australian public schools to become more "independent" over the next three years.

Modelled on the US charter school system, the concept of independent public education generally allows government schools to operate like private schools, with boards appointing principals and leaders having greater control over budget and staff decisions.

But while the concept differs between jurisdictions - and Victoria already has high levels of autonomy - it is nonetheless contentious because critics fear it could exacerbate the gaps in education and lead schools down the path of "privatisation by stealth".

"We already have the highest level of independent schools in the developed world and on the basis of OECD results we aren't near the top at the moment. It could be argued that we should in fact be moving in the opposite direction. Worse still if this is an attempt to further privatise our school systems," said Berwick Lodge Primary School principal Henry Grossek.

This new funding will be used to:

Train principals, assistant principals and business managers to "assume greater decision making powers" over their school and staff.

Give school councils extra powers, which "may include, with appropriate safeguards, an enhanced role in relation to principal selection, acquiring property and assets, and investment".

Expand the government's so-called Local Administrative Bureau program, which outsources time-consuming paperwork for small schools to education department experts.( I have never used the LAB because it is too costly and ironically- time consuming)

Schools will be encouraged to "opt in" to the program, with about 250 schools expected to benefit within the first 12 months. State Education Minister Martin Dixon said the federal money – almost $16 million over four years – would "build the capacity of principals, school leaders and school communities to take full advantage of the level of autonomy already available to them".

The funding deal would also support schools embracing the Napthine government's new governance reforms, which includes moves to merge school councils, overhaul membership, and give parents more say in the performance reviews of their principals.

Australian Education Union state president Meredith Peace accused the government of using its autonomy agenda to shift more responsibilities on to schools without extra support.

Tarneit Senior College principal Michael Fawcett agreed, saying he was unconvinced that the latest state-federal deal would improve student outcomes.

"Where's the Gonski money?" he asked. "I'm still waiting for resource funding, let alone some other mythical funding to make us an independent public school system."

After the backlash following the ridiculed writing prompt in this years NAPLAN test there has been a constant barrage of anti- NAPLAN stories in the press. In the Age yesterday there was a story entitled

' High School Principals back call for secret NAPLAN' The Australian Primary Principals Association wants the government to stop posting school NAPLAN results on its My School website. they say ' The path taken in comparing schools has led to a stifling of creative and effective teaching, a narrowing of the curriculum and less teaching of those skills and literalise needed in the modern world.'

From bad to worse in 12 months!

This story comes from the Sydney Morning Herald

Worse off: the academic gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students is widening!

The Australian education system is in worse shape now than when David Gonski handed down his damning assessment of it three years ago, with academic performance sliding and the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students widening.

A new analysis of My School data tells of deterioration in Australian schools since the controversial website was launched in 2010.

It also finds that the disparity between the highest and lowest performing students, which is already greater than most other developed countries, is deepening.

The NAPLAN test results from 2009 to 2013 published on the website show student achievement has stalled or languished across a majority of the measures. But a deeper analysis reveals, while results have climbed for advantaged students, they have slipped for those from the middle and bottom of the socioeconomic scale. The gap is especially stark in high schools.

The co-author of the analysis, Chris Bonnor, says the notable trends, measured over just a few years, indicate a serious and worsening equity problem.

"What Gonski found to be bad, seems to be getting worse," Mr Bonnor, a former school principal and policy analyst, said. "If we ever need another impetus to get equity right, surely this data is posing lots of questions that need to be answered."

Results for years 5 and 9 show writing and numeracy scores have fallen, while reading scores rose for year 5 and were unchanged for year 9. But, when grouped by socioeducational status, numeracy scores rose for the most advantaged students in all sectors. For schools in middle and low brackets, the trend is downwards or fluctuating. The divergence is also noticeable for both year groups in writing.

The picture looks better for primary school reading where results have improved.( Interestingly we found that looking at local data at the last Regional Directors meeting but Writing has been poor for at least the last 5-6 years)

The trends show the link between disadvantage and poor test results has become more pronounced, particularly in primary schools and schools in metropolitan areas.

Mr Bonnor said the money trail over the past few years helps explain the downward trend. He examined school funding at schools from public, private and Catholic at three different levels of advantage. While disadvantaged students receive the most in government funding, more money was spent on the most advantaged students than any other group, especially when school fees were taken into account.

The analysis does not capture any changes resulting from the new needs-based funding model implemented this year. But, the report argues, the changes have occurred while the Gonski review "proceeded, reported, was variously ignored, cherry-picked, somewhat implemented then in relative terms largely abandoned".

Trevor Cobbold, the convener of Save Our Schools and a former Productivity Commission economist, said the scaled-back version of the Gonski model would "fall far short" of addressing weakness in Australia's school system.

"Every principal in a disadvantaged school in the country will be pleased with the extra funding they're going to get, but that just shows how desperate they are," he said. "They are happy to get the $1000 extra per kid because they can do something with it but I think the evidence shows we're just actually not going to make a big enough difference." ( One thousand dollars per child would be a good start but Glen Park won't see that)

The president of the NSW Teachers Federation, Maurie Mulheron, says teachers have been "trying to work miracles" without the additional resources they need for disadvantaged students.

A spokesman for Education Minister Christopher Pyne said the federal government does not believe increased funding leads to better results.( of course not!)

"This has been disproven over the past decade, where school funding has risen by 40 per cent, but student outcomes have declined," he said. "It is the quality and ability of teachers that makes the biggest impact on student performance in our country."( So invest extra money into the teachers!)

Labor's assistant minister for education Amanda Rishworth said the next generation of Australians would pay the price of the government's reluctance to commit to the final two years of Gonski funding, when the bulk of the money was due to flow through.

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About Me

This blog highlights what we do daily at Glen Park Primary School and also features literature unit plans which I put on Teachers Pay Teachers.It also includes commentary on education issues from my perspective. This is not a school blog but a personal blog ( without the photos of pets and what I had for breakfast .)